12 January 2007

Work on the Gautrain Rapid Rail Link Project went full steam ahead over the past festive period as Bombela is working around the clock to have it ready for 2010.

Barbara Jensen, spokesperson for the project, said construction did not come to a halt during the holidays, and motorists in the affected areas where road diversions and closures are taking place, soon became used to the changes in their routes.

"Traffic in the affected areas was fine over the festive period. At first motorists had to get used to the changes, but it soon became normal," said Jensen.

She said the workers on the project did not have the luxury of celebrating Christmas and New Year's Day as work is required to be completed every day to have the project finished on time.

"Bombela has to work every day to meet the 2010 deadline," said Jensen.

The next two areas to be affected by the road diversions and closures will be the Johannesburg Park Station and Sandton, with construction on seven fronts along the tunnelling section for the south to be underway by the end of this year.

Madelize Theron, Communications and Public Relations Manager for Bombela, said in the north of Gauteng the project aimed to have Viaduct 3 across Allandale Road on the N1 highway completed this year.

"Several qualified engineers and foreign engineers will be used for further operations together with the existing employees. Qualified engineers will also assemble the tunnel boring machines, used in drilling, which will take two months.

"Another speciality field will be the erection of segmental viaducts which is a fairly new exercise in South Africa. Some specialists from abroad will assist with this specific skills transfer," said Theron.

Source: www.gpg.gov.za